This invention relates to a deployable system for a snowmobile that provides for recovery of the snowmobile and its rider from open water. More specifically, the invention provides a deployable flotation device, including an inflatable float and harness, that when deployed, suspends the snowmobile from the float into the water while providing a rescue platform for the rider(s) out of the water.
For those regions of the world where winter temperatures often remain well below freezing for at least several months of the year, snowmobiles are frequently, if not preferably, used for transportation or recreation. Snowmobiles are well adapted for traveling over snow or ice having at least two forward steerable skis, a motor of some sort, and a rearward motor driven traction belt. The rider(s) generally sits straddled upon a longitudinally oriented bench seat just behind the engine-enclosing coloring and windscreen and over the drive train and traction belt.
Snowmobiling is not without its dangers. In Minnesota alone, there have been one hundred deaths recorded in just the last 20 years attributable to snowmobile riders that have drowned because they inadvertently drove their snowmobile over ice that was too thin to support the weight of the snowmobile. Not only is there the unfortunate loss of life, but there is also the contamination of the environment by the lost snowmobile.
This problem with drowning and loss of the machine has been the subject of several patents. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,692 issued to Smith discloses a snowmobile having a plurality of closed cell foam blocks spread about the snowmobile, from pontoon like forward skis, to the enclosed engine compartment and the rearward cargo storage area. With the Smith device, the closed cell foam is always inflated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,662 issued to Boyd, et al., discloses a snowmobile having a plurality of inflatable bladders distributed about the snowmobile. These bladders are inflated upon immersion of the snowmobile into water. The entire system is intended to float the snowmobile and its rider(s) on the surface of the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,832 issued to Millard discloses a snowmobile very similar to Boyd, et al., wherein there are a plurality of inflatable bladders distributed about the snowmobile. The difference lies in that these bladders are intended to be deflatable and restored within their respective housings. This disclosure anticipates a snowmobile driver being able to intentionally traverse open water with this floatation system deployed.
What all three disclosures have in common are floatation systems designed to buoy the vast bulk of the snowmobile and its rider(s) above the surface of the water. To do so requires a considerable amount of flotation capacity. This is because of the weight involved. On average, a snowmobile weighs at least five hundred pounds. On average, a rider weighs approximately 150 pounds, not including their wet winter clothing, boots, helmet and gloves. However, most, if not all snowmobiles, are designed to hold at least two riders. Consequently, any of the above mentioned systems must carry sufficient flotation capacity to support at least eight hundred pounds of snowmobile and riders out of the water. This is not an easy task, requiring considerable bulk when stored or deployed.
What is needed is a deployable flotation device, providing rescue capabilities for the rider(s) of a snowmobile and retrieval of the snowmobile after immersion of the snowmobile and rider(s) in open water, that is compact, lightweight and easily stored within the snowmobile.
The present invention relates to a snowmobile having a frame, an engine for propelling the snowmobile, which is mounted to and operably connected to the frame, and steerable skis operably connected to the frame. The improvement of the present invention comprises an inflatable bladder that is in an initial folded and un-inflated condition preferably housed within some portion of the frame and operably connected to the frame by at least one flexible strap. An inflation medium, such as a compressed gas in a pressure cylinder, is mounted within the frame and is operably connected to the inflatable bladder. With a compressed gas this operable connection would be a fluid connection suitable for handling pressurized gas. The inflation medium is controlled by a deployment subsystem, mounted within the frame, which is designed to first sense submersion of the snowmobile within water and then activates the inflation medium to inflate the bladder. When inflated, the bladder floats at the surface of the water with the snowmobile submerged and suspended below the bladder by the at least one flexible strap.
An object of the present invention is to provide both a means of rescue for a rider of the snowmobile, as well as a means for recovering the snowmobile, as well. The inflatable bladder, when deployed, is sufficient to provide a top surface floating above the surface of the water onto which the rider may climb. The at least one strap connected between the inflatable bladder and the frame of the snowmobile is of sufficient strength to support the submerged weight of the snowmobile.
An object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable bladder sufficient to support the weight of two riders, presumably dressed in winter wear and drenched, and the weight of the submerged snowmobile. An advantage of the present invention is in it not trying to float the snowmobile. A snowmobile on land weighs at least five hundred pounds, but when submerged may weigh less than two hundred and fifty to only one hundred and fifty pounds. Consequently, the inflatable bladder of the present invention may be considerably smaller than flotation required to support the dry weight of the snowmobile and its rider(s). The smaller bladder is more easily compacted and stored on the snowmobile.
Another advantage of the present invention is stabilization of the bladder on the surface of the water. All floating objects have greater or lesser stability to rocking when someone attempts to climb aboard, or if aboard, move around. Stability is a function of the weight, surface area in contact with the water, and center of mass in relation to the center of buoyancy. Other devices that attempt to float the entire snowmobile remain fairly unstable because of the high center of mass in relation to the center of buoyancy contributing to rolling tendencies. This rolling tendency inhibits the ability of the rider(s) to climb aboard or stay aboard, or may even spill the hapless rider(s) back into the water.
The present invention anticipates submerging the snowmobile while remaining connected to the inflated bladder, considerably lowering the center of mass well below the center of buoyancy. In addition, the mass of the snowmobile also acts as a type of sea anchor, further stabilizing the recovery system.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention become more readily apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following descriptions are in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention.